When Is It Time For A Logo Redesign?

Yahoo! unveiled its new logo on September 4. The search engine hasn’t updated its logo since 2009, and it has been mostly the same since 1995. The new cleaner, thinner, sans-serif typeface font is still similar to their former logo, but with some snazzy new updates. We thought this would be a good time to talk about when it’s appropriate to go through a logo redesign.

New logo

Brand integrity is important throughout your marketing materials and maintaining your logo is key to this process. Consider the impacts it is going to have on your long-term goals, your brand’s reputation and your goodwill in the community or with clients.

Your reputation and business identity is at stake and as an established business; you do not want to make a mistake.

Here are a couple of key factors to consider when thinking about a logo redesign.

Old logo

How has your business changed?
A logo is the visual representation of your brand. Does your logo reflect your current brand? What has changed within your company? Has your business evolved beyond what you originally thought it would do? Is it outdated or out of style? Was it created when you were a startup with a shoestring budget?

If your logo no longer visually defines your brand, it’s time to change it. Updating a logo to better match your services will help you reach clients looking for what you provide.

An older logo can begin to look dated if styles change. However, beware of trying to create a trendy logo that will look dated in another 10-15 years. Work with a designer to create the presence you are looking for without harming your reputation or long-term values.

How do customers perceive your logo?This can be tricky since customers rarely mention your logo, but there is an underlying sentiment. You can gauge their perception of your brand by their willingness to display it or interact with you. Do you receive positive comments when new clients first see your business cards?

Updating your logo requires a delicate process of explaining the transition to your customers. It is a time to reconnect with your customers, explain the reason for the changes and assuage any fears they may have that your business is changing. Yahoo! unveiled a 30 Days of Change campaign to better prepare customers for the change.

You don’t want a mistake like Gap back in 2010. Their logo redesign received a notoriously critical backlash, and was scrapped almost immediately. In an interesting turn of events, Gap actually asked the public for their own redesigns following the negative reaction to the new logo, but ended up reversing that decision and keeping the original iconic logo.

Current and former logo2010 logo redesign

When we started The Savvy Socialista the goals and business plan were drastically different from what they are today. Our logo had to be redesigned, along with our website to ensure that all the goals were being met. We wanted to be able to reach a larger audience and felt that streamlining and a logo redesign was in order.

What do you think of Yahoo!’s new logo? What other logo redesigns have you seen fail miserably? Which have succeeded?

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